In “It,” each character has a problem that later transforms into their greatest fear, a tool IT uses to prey on them and eventually kill or control them. The alternation of forms conceived by Stephen King made IT a fundamental force of nature.
Bill Denbrough
Role: Bill Denbrough is the leader of the Losers Club. Key Info: Bill is the main protagonist in Stephen King’s “It.” he is determined and resourceful.
Bill Denbrough, Leader of the Losers Club
Background: Bill sets out on a path of revenge after a clown called Pennywise murders his brother, George. He earned the nickname ‘Stuttering Bill’ because of his speech impediment, which worsened after George died. The stutter faded off in his teenage years but returned when he came to Derry twenty-seven years later to kill the terror of his childhood.
Personality: Bill is a small-framed boy with blue eyes and red hair. Twenty-seven years after leaving Derry, he starts balding and shaves his hair to spo a buzzcut.
Development: After the death of his brother, Bill notices the hopeless nature of his parents, and he tries to restore their family dynamic by killing the murderer responsible for George’s demise. Bill forms the Losers Club and becomes their unofficial leader.
Significance: Bill was crucial to defeating the monster that took his brother’s life. Without him, the Losers Club would have failed at every turn.
Bill’s bravery and quest for vengeance made him the greatest threat to IT. After first defeating the monster in 1958, he eventually killed the beast once and for all after it had kidnapped his wife, Audra. Bill’s existence as the primary protagonist showed that courage is the willingness to face an overwhelming evil in the face of unreasonable odds.
IT (Pennywise)
Role: IT is the main antagonist in the story. Key Info: The monster is an ancient shape-shifting entity that kills people by appearing in the form of their fears. The monster sleeps for twenty-seven years at a time.
IT (Pennywise), Ancient Monster That Kills and Eats Children
Background: Though knowledge of IT’s exact origin was elusive to The Losers club, the being was as old as the universe as he existed in a void between our universe and other universes, a place he called the macro verse.
Personality: IT is a shape-shifting monster that takes on the appearance of a person’s greatest fear.
Development: IT’s original appearance is a spider, and its essence is in the form of orange lights called deadlights. Looking directly at the monster could drive a person insane or kill them. The book speculated IT to be female as the monster laid its eggs after deeming The Losers Club a real threat.
Significance: IT represents the fear and corruption that eats and torments the soul. As a monster that comes in the form of fear, the beast paints a canvas that portrays the destruction that can result from not fighting one’s fear.
IT manifested in numerous aliases, from Pennywise, the dancing clown, to a werewolf, a mummy, George, Frankenstein, and a leper. Apart from having the power to shape-shift, the monster can control people into doing its bidding. After being defeated by The Losers Club, IT went to sleep, waking up twenty-seven years later.
On noticing The Losers Club was in Derry again, IT set out to destroy them once and for all. The monster orders Henry to attack the members of The Losers Club but fails, as Henry dies. IT finally managed to take Audra hostage but failed in getting rid of The Losers Club and died at Bill’s hands.
Henry Bowers
Role: Henry is another primary antagonist of the story. Key Info: He is the crazy leader of the Bowers group, a gang of seven twelve-year-olds who constantly bully members of the Losers Club.
Henry Bowers, Leader of The Bowers Gang and Enemy of The Losers Club
Background: Henry’s father’s racist and abusive attitude influences his life.
Personality: Henry is a tough boy for his age. His teeth are rotten, and he has a spiked flattop hair. He smells of sweat and fruity chewing gum.
Development: Henry turns his hate toward Stan and Mike, members of the Losers Club who are Jewish and African-American. He starts losing his mental stability as IT takes over and tries using him to kill the Losers Club. With the switchblade sent by IT, Henry kills his father but is unsuccessful in killing the Losers Club.
Significance: Henry was the anchor of hatred IT used to torture the Losers Club. Though a villain, his life was the sum of multiple abuse and terrible parenting.
Henry’s complete life was a reflection of the constant abuse and violence he faced from his father. His mental instability stemmed from terrible parenting, and his life was nothing but hell.
His encounter with Frankenstein, an alternate form of IT, traumatized him. The authorities find him mentally deranged and send him to a mental asylum after blaming him for the murder of children in Derry.
Twenty-seven years later, Henry escapes the mental institution and returns to have his revenge. On realizing the opportunity, IT instructs Henry to kill the members of the Losers Club. However, on confronting Eddie, he is killed with a broken bottle.
Benjamin Hanscom “Ben”
Role: Ben Hanscom is the most intelligent member of The Losers Club. Key Info: He is an intelligent bookworm with excellent mechanical skills that helped The Losers Club defeat IT.
Ben Hanscom, Most Intelligent Member of the Losers Club
Background: Ben Hanscom was a shy boy with a severe crush on Beverly Marsh. However, he hid his feelings because of fear of rejection.
Personality: Ben is shy, chubby, and has brown hair that spikes when wet. As an adult, he loses fat and becomes lean and handsome.
Development: Ben became Henry Bowers, a renowned bully’s target after he refused to show him exam answers. On the last day of school, he is attacked by Henry and his friends, and to everyone’s shock, Henry brings out a knife and carves Ben’s stomach. The young boy luckily escapes and meets Richie, whom he joins to become a member of the Losers Club.
Significance: Ben portrays the role change has in people’s lives. Ben transformed into a handsome, brave man from a shy, chubby boy.
Nicknamed ‘Haystacks,’ Ben’s intelligence enabled him to build the silver slugs the Losers Club used to injure Pennywise (IT). He also oversaw building an underground clubhouse for The Losers Club. Twenty-seven years after the Losers Club’s encounter with IT, Ben changes for good and becomes handsome. He eventually musters the courage to confess his feelings to Beverly.
Richard Tozier “Richie”
Role: Richard Tozier, Richie, is a jokester and a member of The Losers Club. Key Info: Richie is known as ‘Trashmouth’ by the group. His impersonation of voices becomes very useful for the group in defeating IT.
Richie Tozier, A Voice Impersonator and Member of the Losers Club
Background: Richie’s undying love for the group also makes him ensure they stay together.
Personality: Richie has severe shortsightedness, requiring him to wear thick glasses. He usually causes trouble for himself. He becomes a disk jockey in Los Angeles, where he uses his voice imitation to his benefit as an adult.
Development: Richie and Mike hallucinate IT’s origin, broadening the entire Losers Club’s knowledge of the monster.
Significance: Richie’s talent opened doors for him and his friends. His voice impersonation, which could have led to bullying, made his friends defeat IT.
Richie was crucial in the Losers Club’s plan to learn about IT’s origin. Without him and Eddie hallucinating to discover the monster they fought was an ancient being, Bill would have never been able to perform the Ritual of Chud and defeat IT in the Battle of Wills.
Edward Kaspbrak “Eddie”
Role: Eddie Kaspbrak is another member of the Losers Club. Key Info: He is a frail and hypochondriac boy who carries an inhaler with him, believing he has asthma.
Eddie Kaspbrak, A Hypochondriac, and Member of the Losers Club
Background: Having lost his father at a young age, Eddie’s mother is overprotective and constantly worries over his health, making him think he is sick with asthma.
Personality: Eddie is a short blue-eyed boy with a flattop haircut. However, he resembles Anthony Perkins and is spotted wearing trendy fashion shoes like Gucci Loafers when he grows older.
Development: Eddie is attacked and injured by Henry, leaving him with a broken arm. His mother refuses to allow his friends from The Losers Club to visit him, but he finally tells her to stop worrying too much about him. He later owns a limousine rental company.
Significance: Eddie was a great friend who sacrificed his life so his friends could survive the destruction of IT.
Eddie was crucial to the Losers Club finally defeating IT. Without him confronting Henry, the group would have been unable to stop the ancient monster that terrorized Derry. In Eddie’s final confrontation, he faces IT and loses his life. However, his sacrifice gives his friends the upper hand, and they defeat IT.
Beverly Marsh “Bev”
Role: Beverly March is the only female member of the Losers Club. Key Info: She is the subject of various crushes from the young boys around her.
Bev March, The Only Female Member of the Losers Club
Background: Beverly suffered from an abusive father who constantly beat her while her mother was away at work.
Personality: Beverly is an attractive red-haired girl with a tomboy personality. As a grownup, she becomes a successful fashion designer but does not escape abusive relationships as she marries Tom Rogan, a man who beats her and sees her only as a sex object.
Development: Through all the pain and abuse she witnessed, Beverly stuck with her friends and helped in the fight against IT.
Significance: Though she faced abuse from every corner, Beverly was the glue that held the Losers Club together.
Beverly had rocky relationships with multiple men who tried to take advantage of her. Her first sexual abuse was by Henry Bowers and his gang, who narrowly missed raping her due to her father returning early. Even though she faced antagonization from the people around her, Bev still fought and conquered her deepest fears. She worked with her friends to end the terror of Derry. She eventually found love with Ben.
Stanley Uris “Stan”
Role: Stan Uris is a logical boy and a member of the Losers Club. Key Info: He is a Jewish boy who is the most skeptical of the group.
Stan Uris, Most Skeptical Member of the Losers Club
Background: Stan relied on logic and believed everything followed a particular order making him doubt the existence of the creature IT.
Personality: Stan wears formal clothes and has curly brown hair.
Development: Henry bullied Stan because of his Jewish origin. As an adult, he becomes a successful accountant in Atlanta, living with his wife, Patty Blum.
Significance: Stan’s death only fueled the Losers Club’s drive to kill IT. He was a catalyst the group needed to face the monster of their childhood.
Stan kills himself after receiving a phone call from Mike about IT’s awakening. He writes “IT” on the wall before slitting his wrist.
Stan’s fear of IT showed his logical reason led to him believing he had no shot against the monster that had reawakened. His suicide led to the Losers Club having a difficult time destroying the beast of their childhood once and for all.
Michael Hanlon “Mike”
Role: Mike Hanlon is the last member to join The Losers Club. Key Info: He is the only African-American in the group.
Mike Hanlon, The Only Member of the Losers Club Not That Is Not In The Same School With Others
Background: Due to his Baptist faith, Mike attends a separate school from the group.
Personality: Mike is a calm boy who later becomes a librarian at Derry
Development: Mike joined The Losers Club after they helped him defeat Henry in a rock fight. The Losers Club uses his father’s photo collection to trace IT(Pennywise), the dancing clown, throughout Derry’s history.
Significance: Without Mike, the Losers Club would have never learned that IT was an ancient monster millions of years old.
Mike was the only member of the Losers Club that remained in Derry as he worked as a librarian. On the resurgence of deaths in the town, He calls the group back for a reunion to kill IT forever. After defeating the monster, Mike begins losing memories of his encounter. He realizes the creature’s death makes its memories fade away.
Patrick Hockstetter
Role: Patrick is a psychopath and part of the Bowers Gang. Key Info: He became a killer at the age of five when he murdered his little brother by suffocating him.
Patrick Hockstetter, A Mentally Challenged Member of The Bowers Gang
Background: Patrick finds solace in torturing and killing animals. He starts developing feelings for Henry and makes sexual advances, including giving Henry a hand job.
Personality: Patrick is mentally unstable and even scares Henry.
Development: After giving Henry a handjob, Patrick offers oral sex, but Henry punches him. Henry threatens to expose his secret about the refrigerator he keeps captured and dead animals.
Significance: People like Patrick and Henry were products of a corrupt society that was lethal to young minds. They were placed into a world of suffering and had no way to receive the mental help they needed.
Patrick tries cleaning the refrigerator he kept tortured animals when IT attacks him with flying leeches. Patrick passes out due to losing too much blood, and IT eats him with Beverly watching. The Losers Club later finds his corpse, and IT warns them in Patrick’s blood, telling them to stay away or die.
Reginald Huggins “Belch”
Role: Belch Hugging is a member of the Bowers Gang. Key Info: He is one of Henry’s sidekicks.
Belch, One of Henry’s Most Loyal Sidekicks
Background: Belch is a large boy with a height of six feet despite being twelve years old. his loyalty to the group, especially Henry, earned him his nickname ‘Belch.’ Belch follows Henry into the sewers to kill the Losers Club.
Personality: Belch is a huge boy who fervently follows Henry.
Development: Belch has mental issues like the rest of the Bower’s Gang.
Significance: As with Henry and Patrick, Belch had a difficult childhood that resulted in him sheepishly following a psychopath.
On encountering Frankenstein, an alternate form of IT, Belch stays behind as he defends Henry, who escapes. Belch eventually dies as IT mutilates his face. Twenty-seven years later, the monster takes the form of a rotting Belch Huggins and drives Henry to the hotel where the Losers Club stays so he can get rid of them. The Losers Club finds Belch’s corpse when they face IT.
Victor Criss “Vic”
Role: Victor Criss is one of Henry’s sidekicks. Key Info: He is the smartest in the Bowers gang.
Victor Criss, Smartest Member of the Bowers Gang
Background: Vic’s good heart leads him to help the Losers Club by warning them of Henry’s increasing mental instability.
Personality: Vic has a good heart and discovers Henry is slipping into insanity.
Development: He changes his mind when he notices Henry’s elevated insanity.
Significance: He tries to join the Losers Club but decides against it, leading to him following Henry and Belch into the sewers, where they encounter Frankenstein, an alternate form of IT. During their encounter, IT Kills Vic by tearing him apart.
Vic had a tragic ending even though he changed his ways. He would have lived if he left Henry and joined the Losers Club. However, his fear cost him everything.
George Denbrough
Role: George is Bill’s six-year-old brother. Key Info: An alternate form of IT, a clown calling himself Pennywise, ripped George’s arm when he tried to reach for his boat in the drain.
George, Bill’s Brother Who Was Killed By IT
Background: George’s death sparked Bill’s quest to get revenge on the murderer who took his brother’s life.
Personality: George was a lovely boy who listened to his father’s advice on not taking things from strangers.
Development: After Georges’s death, Bill blamed himself as if he had not built the boat, his brother would still be alive.
Significance: George became a stain of the past that lingered in his brother’s mind. Bill’s unwillingness to let go tormented him and became the tool IT used to scare him.
George’s death was a blow to Derry. His demise caused a string of events that led to IT’s resurgence in the town.
Steve Sadler “Moose”
Role: Moose is a member of Bower’s Gang. Key Info: He is disabled but partook in tormenting members of The Losers Club.
Moose, A Disabled Member of The Bowers Gang
Background: There is not enough information on Moose’s background except for his association with the Bowers Gang.
Personality: Moose has some mental issues and is more of a minion than a friend of Henry.
Development: He helps Henry break Eddie’s arm and also takes part in bullying Mike.
Significance: Moose does not appear in the novel after the rock fight between Henry and the Losers Club.
Almost every member of the Bowers Gang seems to have some cognitive or mental issue throughout “It,” showing that the children who bullied others were also tortured by conditions that were out of their hands.
Peter Gordon
Role: Peter is a member of the Bowers group. Key Info: He leaves after the rock fight with The Losers Club.
Peter Gordon, Left The Bowers Gang
Background: On realizing Henry’s growing insanity, Peter alienates himself from the group.
Personality: Peter’s personality is unexplored in “It,” but as a bully, he must have acted like Henry and the rest of the Bowers Gang.
Development: Peter is one of the few people in the Bowers Gang who could see things were wrong with Henry.
Significance: Though unknown, the novel implied that IT killed Peter and the rest of the Bowers Gang as the Losers Club realized he was gone.
Peter leaving the Bowers Group showed he still had some critical thinking left. His defeat must have made him realize his terrible actions. However, the book never dives into this.
Tom Rogan
Role: Tom Rogan is Beverly’s abusive and violent husband. Key Info: His psychopathic nature gives him a predator view of women.
Tom Rogan, Bev’s Abusive Husband
Background: Tom tries to punish his vulnerable wife, who he sees only as a sex object, when she escapes, leaving him to go to Derry.
Personality: Tom is a man with a despicable view of women. His reasoning was wielded into him by an abusive mother who forced him to become the patriarch of the family.
Development: When Beverly stands up to Tom, his worldview shatters, as he believes women are subservient to him.
Significance: Beverly fighting Tom back made him seek out revenge, one IT used to turn him into a weapon against the Losers Club.
On his arrival at Derry, IT convinces Tom to kidnap Bill’s wife, Audra, and bring her to his layer. Tom dies of shock after seeing the monster’s final form.
Audra Philip Denbrough
Role: Audra is Bill’s wife. Key Info: She is a famous film actress.
Audra, Bill’s Wife. Captured by IT
Background: She follows her husband to Derry due to her worry over his mental health.
Personality: Audra is a beautiful woman who cares for her husband.
Development: Tom Rogan kidnaps Audra on the order of It, and she enters a catatonic state after seeing IT’s final form.
Significance: Bill later revives his wife after taking her on a ride on his old bicycle, Silver.
Audra’s existence in “It” created a purpose for Bill. He knew he had to kill It and save his wife, and the drive to end the monster fueled him and the Losers Club even more.
Other characters include Adrian Mellon, Will Hanlon, Alvin Marsh, Sonia Kaspbrak, and Maturin.
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